Dada Kondke was the comedy king of Marathi cinema. Comedy in Marathi cinema became world famous because of Dada Kondke. His name was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records after he gave a series of nine consecutive hits in Marathi films.

Kondke's film dialoges are famous for double meanings. He always gave importance to music. Most of the songs featured in Kondke's films were composed by Ramlaxman and Ram Kadam. Kondke's playback singers are Mahendra Kapoor and Jayawant Kulkarni. He always prefer Usha Mangeshkar as a female singer.

Kondke was from a drama background, he brought that drama into films. That appealed to the Marathi crowd. That is why he was such a big hit.

Kondke also made some Hindi films and there too his work was appreciated.

Kondke's audience is the mill worker and the poor farmer. They need entertainment in life after their work.

Though Kondke never made a single sombre film in his career, his last, and yet incomplete, film was to be a serious one

Krishna Kondke (August 8, 1932 - March 14, 1998), popularly known as Dada Kondke, was a Marathi actor and film producer. He was one of the most renowned personalities in Marathi film industry, famous for his double entendre dialogs in movies.
Dada Kondke was born in a mill-worker's family in Naigaum in central Mumbai[1] on Gokulashtami day and hence was named Krishna.[citation needed] Even though it is popularly believed that Dada Kondke was entered in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest number of films (nine) that achieved silver jubilee (running for 25 consecutive weeks), no such entry exists. Krishna Kondke was called "Dada", an honorificMarathi term meaning "elder brother", which lead to his popular name Dada Kondke.

Biography of Dada Kondke

Dada Kondke was a born in a mill-worker's family in Naigaum, near Lalbaug, Mumbai. These workers were mostly migrants to the city of Mumbai looking for employment in the prospering cotton mills. This section of the society was well connected to their rural roots. Dada's movies targeted this section of the society. Tamasha and stage drama's have always played an important role inMarathi entertainment industry. Dada had started his entertainment career with a band and then as a stage actor. While working for drama Dada toured all over Maharashtra which helped him understand what entertainment meant to the local population. This learning can be seen in his movies which targeted masses over classes. Dada was a native of Ingavali in Bhor which is in Pune district of Maharashtra.

Early life of Dada Kondke

Dada's early life was spent in chawls of Naigaum, a Marathi heartland of Mumbai. As a youngster Dada was a rough kid who later on took up job in a local grocery retail chain, Apna Bazaar. It was then that Dada lost most of his immediate family to unfortunate events. The recovery process changed Dada completely who decided to stay focused on the lighter side of life and make people around laugh. Dada became a member of a local band which earned him the nickname "Bandwale Dada" (literally translation, 'big brother who plays for the band').
Road to success
It was during this time that Dada got involved in cultural activities of Seva Dal. He started working in drama's and came in contact with various drama related personalities one of who was Vasant Sabnis, a well knownMarathi writer. Dada decided to play big and started his own drama company, and approached Sabnis to compose a drama script for him. Sabnis was impressed with Dada's personality and his performance in "Khankhanpurcha Raja" (literaltranslation, Bankrupt king), and wrote a drama entitled, "Vichha Majhi Puri Kara" (literal translation , Fulfill my desires), which was a turning point in Dada's life. The drama went on to play over 1500 shows and made Dada a star. The drama got Dada into spotlight and also gave him an entry intoMarathi movies through a role in Bhalji Pendharkar's movie "Tambdi Maati". This was followed by a lead role in "Songadya" a block buster which turned Dada's world around. Dada kept on delivering one hit after the other. He retained his team from Songadya and delivered his next hit "Ekta jeev Sadashiv".

Dada Kondke's team

Dada Kondke's storylines were always based on the simpleton. He used same team of actors, technicians and playback singers to repeat the formula for success that he believed he had got from his debut film. Dada movies, produced under the "Kamakshi Pictures" banner, had the same set of people, which included Usha Chavan as the lead actress, Raam Laxman as his music director, initially Jayawant Kulkarni and then Mahendra Kapoor as the male, and Usha Mangeshkar as the female playback singer, and Bal Mohite as the chief assistant.

Death of Dada Kondke

On March 14, 1998 at 3.30 am, at his residence Rama Niwas in Dadar, Mumbai Dada Kondke suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to Shushrusha Nursing Home, a stones throw away from his residence, where he breathed his last. Dr Anil Wakankar, his physician-cum-friend, had given him a routine check-up only the previous day. He was working on a film Jaraa Dheer Dhara with Usha Chavan when the end came.

Controversies of Dada Kondke

Dada's life has been full of controversies ranging from his stance on censorship in films, his relationship with political parties , and his personal life; controversy surrounded him even after his death.

Marital status of Dada Kondke

Dada was married to a woman named Nalini and was later divorced. In her divorce petition, Nalini stated that Dada and she never consummated their marriage and she had no contact whatsoever from 1967 onwards with him, whereas a girl named Tejaswini was born to her in 1969. Hence, Tejaswini is not Dada's daughter. However, another source says that while the daughter was his, he did not accept her in his lifetime.
Post death property disputes
His will was said to be fabricated. It bequeathed properties of not only Dada Kondke but also of Vijay Kondke, his brothers and mother. The Will also bequeaths properties of third persons not related to Kondke family. Secondly, the will did not appoint any executors. The witness deposition is also against the will as not being the same one Dada had actually signed.

Film career of Dada Kondke

Songadya (1971): Dada's first venture in movie production was based on a story written by Vasant Sabnis, and was directed by Govind Kulkarni. Dada cast himself as Namya, the simpleton who falls to the glamour of Kalavati (played by Usha Chavan) who is a dancer in Tamasha. Namya's mother gets annoyed on knowing his visits to Tamasha and throws him out of house. Kalavati provides shelter to Dada and starts his career at Tamasha. The movie was a big hit and made Dada's simpleton image a huge success. Dada kept his simpleton image intact all the following movies. Even though the movie was big hit the movie, it's screening in Mumbai took a controversial turn when the owner of Kohinoor Theater in Dadar decided to screen Dev Anand's Teen Deviyan in spite of Dada booking the theater 4 weeks in advance. Dada then approached Shiv Sena supremo, Balasaheb Thackeray for help. Soon Shiv Sainiks gathered and started protesting outside the theater. Eventually Songadya was released in Kohinoor and was a big hit. Some of the other people, who played major characters in this movie, were Nilu Phule, Ganpat Patil, Sampat Nikam and Ratnamala.